


The High Born: Episode 1

by Lithiasaur



Series: The High Born [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Corrupted Gems, Crystal Gems, F/F, Furry, Slow Burn, Were-Creatures, Wings, Worldbuilding, jaspearl - Freeform, pearlmethyst - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:13:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26236210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithiasaur/pseuds/Lithiasaur
Summary: Another AU story set in a dark, war torn world, ravaged by shadows and storms. The indigenous creatures of the planet, the Undergrown, are at war with one another, destroying each other while trying to survive against the increasingly dangerous storms and ever Crawling Shadows. Above the clouds, the High Born live completely oblivious to the world below them, until the day one of their own falls from the sky. This winged beauty, Pearl, is found by a fluffy, feral creature named Amethyst. Together with members of her tribe, Jasper and Rose, Amethyst nurses Pearl back to health and in the process unravels the true nature of their wars, their world, and the Shadows around them.
Relationships: Amethyst/Jasper (Steven Universe), Amethyst/Pearl (Steven Universe), Jasper/Pearl (Steven Universe), Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe)
Series: The High Born [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905658
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	The High Born: Episode 1

**Author's Note:**

> A little side project when a spark of inspiration hit! I won't be abandoning my other works or ideas! Comments and kudos are always loved and help me keep writing <3

The battle had gone reasonably well, all things considered. They had only lost two or three of their numbers to the shadow storm, and the raiders had at least not been able to kill any of them outright. There were injuries, as there always were, but for once things seemed to go almost in their favor. Maybe they were getting better at defending their home. Feeling rather upbeat because she had managed to survive yet another battle despite her size, Amethyst padded along the forest back toward her territory. She preferred to walk on her hands and legs, body coiled and curved in just the right ways to make it just as comfortable as, if not more so than, walking on two feet.

So it was her hand fell across something soft in the damp, rain soaked forest floor. She pulled her hand back and stopped, looking down and at first not spotting what she stepped on. Hopefully it was not a pile of excrement left behind by one of the forest’s denizens. Payback for hunting them, she supposed. Her eyes finally picked out something very pale against the dark green and brown leaves, head tilting to the side as she reached her head for it again. Ears bending back, almost flat on her fluffy head, Amethyst felt her anxiety spike when she recognized a small, almost white hand. 

“W-what are you?” Amethyst breathed, her breath puffing out in front of her in the biting cold. Even all the furs and leathers she wore could not keep out the terrible, icy cold of the storm. This little creature, whatever it was, had no such covering. It must have already been frozen to death. Sniffing, Amethyst growled as the sharp scent of blood reached her keen nose and she hurried to dig the creature out from under the leaves and dirt. She tosses away some broken branches, looking up to realize this little thing had somehow fallen from the treetops so high above. 

It was not an animal like any she had seen before. If nothing else, it could have been one of her own kind, if not for being so tall and long, its limbs thin and its skin so very pale and soft. Amethyst settled on her butt in the leaves, staring at the body she had uncovered. It looked female, with short, pink hair that was an absolute mess at the moment, matted around her round, pretty face by water, mud, and blood. She had a long nose, but it was not unflattering, giving her long limbed and thin body a very bird like quality. Or maybe that feeling came from the massive wings attached to the creature’s back, one curled around her body almost protectively while the other was stretched out at a clearly broken angle. The arm on that side, where she must have impacted the ground, was likewise bent and broken, the ground underneath stained dark with a strangely blue tinted blood. 

Tail held low, Amethyst crawled a little closer, poking the little thing’s face. There was no indication she felt it at all, her head lulling back down to where it had settled before the disruption without any resistance. 

“Are you dead? Hey? Wake up!” Amethyst whined, growing braver and taking the strange creature by her shoulders. She hoisted her up a bit, cradling her carefully as she examined her damaged body. There were long scratches down her back, as if clawed by something. Was that why she fell? Her wing had been damaged and she crashed through the canopy? A small puff of frozen air in front of the stranger’s face caught Amethyst’s attention, a loud whine escaping her throat. “Alive! Uh oh! I’ll get you somewhere safe!” 

Wagging her tail in excitement, the young Undergrown hoisted the strange creature into her arms as carefully as someone who had never been careful in her life could possibly manage. It was awkward to carry her with all her feathers, but Amethyst did what she could to not cause more damage as she took off at a run back toward her den. 

\-------------------

Padding up to the base, drenched through with rain and panting from the effort off carrying something while running as fast as she could, Amethyst finally felt some of her anxiety easing. Happy-go-lucky as she was, she had never felt so responsible before, carrying this damaged whatever it was back to her home without any idea of what to expect. She passed by the guards quickly, ignoring their strange looks as she skittered inside the den and toward her personal nest. She settled the wounded stranger into the soft furs of her bed, pausing a moment to look her over again. Not much had changed, the creature still unconscious and barely breathing, making no sounds or any show that it would wake up. 

“Don’t die, okay? I’m gonna help you.” 

“What in the Shadows is that?” A deep, rumbling voice snapped from behind her. The familiar shadow that fell over her made Amethyst wince, and she slowly turned around to see Jasper staring down at her, arms folded and a very stern look on her face. Her piercing gold eyes looked at Amethyst for a moment, before flashing to the stranger in the bed. “Where did you get it? Why did you bring it here?”

“Hey Jasp!” Amethyst ignored the questions, wagging her tail and running over to give the bigger gem a tight hug. She purred and whined as she held on to her, until Jasper relented and returned the hug tersely. “Glad you made it back from the battle, too. Wasn’t too bad today, huh?” 

“Every battle is bad. It’s not like we won, and we still lost some of our numbers,” Jasper grunted. She moved past Amethyst and looked the creature over closely, snarling at the sight of her wings. She turned sharply to look at Amethyst, shaking her head. “You have to get rid of that.”

“But… she has wings just like Boss-” 

“That means nothing! Get rid of it!” 

“But she’s hurt!”

“Then let the Shadows take it!” 

“But she needs our help, Jasper,” the soft whine that escaped Amethyst silenced Jasper’s growling. The bigger Undergrown looked down at Amethyst in surprise, never hearing her argue so much after being given a snarled out order like that. Jasper looked at the creature again, noting that some of the furs of Amethyst’s plush nest, much more comfortable than the one Jasper made for herself, were stained blue from her still running blood. 

“Ugh,” Jasper grunted. 

Tail wagging in delight, Amethyst leaped up to catch Jasper in another tight hug, kissing her cheek in delight before dropping back down to the floor and skittering off on her hands and feet to dig through a large pile of things. Most of Amethyst’s things were arranged in large, disorganized piles, though she swore she knew where everything was. The digging seemed to counter that argument, but Jasper was used to it at this point. Eventually, Amethyst came running back over carrying a box of medical supplies. She plopped down on the floor beside the bed, moving to turn the tall, pretty little thing in her bed to address the injuries on her back. Jasper watched, standing just behind Amethyst almost protectively. 

“Was she damaged in the raid?” Jasper wondered out loud. “Those look like wounds caused by Undergrown. She could have been working with our enemies, Amethyst, if one of our own injured her.” 

“She was covered in branches and leaves. It looks like she fell from the sky.” 

Jasper recognized the whimsical tone in Amethyst’s voice. She was always so easily charmed, and the call of adventure was always strongest to Amethysts’ ears. She was playful and eager, despite the war around them, always quick to bring them smiles when it felt like there were none to be found. She was innocent and Jasper admired her sweetness, but it was a dangerous liability in the world they lived in. And now, with this strange creature that looked so much like… 

A shudder moved down Jasper’s spine, straight down to her long, fluffy tail. 

“We have to get rid of it,” she said again, but this time with quiet urgency. 

“Jasp, please, she’s hurt. Real bad. She might not make it anyway, but I gotta try to help her, don’t I? We can’t throw her away without knowing anything about her, just because she’s not like you or me. I mean. I’m not like you, or the others, either, right?” Amethyst looked up from her work, having messily, but tightly and securely, wrapped the stranger’s wing and arm. She cleaned the scratches as best she could, and bandaged them as well. The poor little thing was looking a bit like a mummy now, wrapped as she was, and certainly did not look comfortable. Though Amethyst’s bed was plush and warm, it was on the smaller side. The tall creature’s legs were poking out over the bottom of it, and her head was lulling over the top.

“Amethyst, you’re impossible,” Jasper grunted, angrily, before moving to put her heavy hand on Amethyst’s shoulder. “You’re just smaller than us. That’s not the same thing. This thing, these wings… this is dangerous. To all of us.” 

Amethyst let out a helpless whine as she was easily guided out of the way by the much larger gem. The hand on her shoulder was firm, the order clear. Standing to the side, she watched in misery as Jasper bent to pick up the stranger with ease, holding her in the crook of one arm. She had her arm under the creature’s backside, so she was almost sitting, though unconscious, while most of her body weight was leaning against Jasper’s broad chest. Jasper looked at Amethyst, who was nearly in tears, ears flat against the soft white of her mane, tail between her legs, and sighed. 

“She’ll be more comfortable in my nest. Come on.” 

“Thanks Jasp!” Amethyst yelped, startled but happy in the same moment. She bounced after the bigger Undergrown, padding along beside her with her tail high and a big grin on her purple face. Her white mane was drying off now, becoming incredibly fluffy and unruly, but very soft. As Jasper knew all too well, petting her with her free hand as they walked along together. 

Her den was not far, just across a hall hewn in the earth. Their base was underground, though they had above ground territories as well. It protected them from the Shadow Storms that always accompanied the worst of their battles with their enemies. The whole planet seemed to be at war, various Undergrown tribes fighting each other for food and territory, and other races, like the Flamelicked and Undrowned, trying to wipe them out completely. The battle today had been against a former ally tribe that suddenly decided they were unhappy with their agreed upon territory across the river, and came looking for more land. 

“What is that, my kittens?” A soft, but firm, voice said from behind them. Jasper jumped to attention, accidentally dropping the stranger. Amethyst let out a yelp, also mid-salute toward their leader but seeing the injured little thing falling. She was caught before she hit the ground by a flash of pink, a fluffy beast creature holding her in his massive arms as he stood up straight. Lion moved faster than any of them, as if able to teleport or step into the shadows themselves and step back out where he needed to be. He silently, as he did everything, looked down at the still unconscious being in his arms and walked back toward his master. He offered her to their leader, who simply called herself Rose. 

While Jasper was a big, beautiful creature by all Undergrown standards, Lion was bigger. He was tall and muscular, his pink mane covering his chest and neck, though it did not follow the line of his spine like most of the other Undergrown did. His tail, too, was not covered in fur but rather the same pinkish tone as his undercoat and only tipped in a ball of fluff. He wore armor without any furs or leathers, and of a smooth, shiny silver that none in this den knew how to reproduce. Where he came from was a mystery, and he never told them. In fact, he never spoke at all. 

Rose regarded the little winged creature with a grave expression, big clawed finger tracing the soft line of the stranger’s pale cheek thoughtfully. If Lion was big, then Rose was gigantic, standing a full foot taller than Jasper herself. She was thick and powerful looking, her mane long and luxurious. It was pink, much like Lion’s, though she wore the traditional leathers and furs of her kind. She had a metal pauldron that shimmered in silver that matched Lion’s, as well, but that was the only trace of similarity between them. Their bond, however, was clear. Lion served her with the utmost loyalty, and she rarely appeared anywhere without him at her side. 

Amethyst and Jasper were bowing, neither daring to look up at their Alpha and leader. Rose frowned deeply, a rumbling growl escaping her chest. 

“You’ve brought an incredible danger to our home.”

\------------------------


End file.
